


Peter's Spooder Island

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [48]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pepper Potts is Amused, Peter Parker Plays Video Games, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Plays Video Games, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23530939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Peter has anew game that he just can't put down.  Tony begrudgingly allows his favorite spiderling to teach him how to play and then maybe gets a mild addiction of his own.Or:Peter and Tony Play Animal CrossingAlternate title: Animal Bossing
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [48]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397362
Comments: 17
Kudos: 275





	Peter's Spooder Island

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheDisneyOutsider](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/gifts).



> I was in the middle of writing a new chapter for Parenting Peter when this idea was mentioned to me and I had to write it because it was funny. My family has been takings turns playing it since the day it came out. 😂 It's a good distraction!
> 
> I'm gifting this to TheDisneyOutsider who will come and read this during their next Animal Crossing break. 😂.
> 
> #ILoveMyReaders❤️

"Hey, Pete?", Tony said as he crossed the room to find his kid sitting hunched over a Nintendo Switch instead of doing what he'd said he'd come over to do. "I thought you were here to work on your web-shooters."

Peter nodded his head, never looking up from the screen. "I was. I finished that a little while ago. One of them was just jammed up and I didn't have the right tools to fix it at home.", he replied, waving his hand vaguely towards the small magnetic screwdriver set that was still sitting on the corner of his workspace alongside his newly unjammed web-shooter.

"Okay...", Tony returned, still somewhat confused by the lack of actual work getting done. Typically if the kid was in the lab he was busy doing something. Even if it was just messing around with the box of scraps that were kept in the corner for his benefit alone. Admittedly the boy had been known to finish his homework at that desk, too but never had he ever seem him sit there just... playing games. Not even on his phone. "Well, if you're done with that, do you want to help me work on this prototype for the conference we have coming up in June?"

Still fully engrossed in the game in his hands, Peter hesitated. "Uh... yeah. Just... just hang on a second, Mr. Stark. I'm almost done here.", he said, glancing up momentarily just to make sure that he wasn't going to get in any sort of trouble but all his mentor did was roll his eyes and walk away. Taking that as an invitation to finish what he'd started and join the man at his workstation later, he turned back towards the screen

However, as time passed, Tony quickly realized that the kid wasn't making any sort of effort to finish up anything. Rather he looked fully invested in his game and had clearly lost track of time. "Okay, kid. You said a second and it's been over twenty minutes. What gives?", he asked as he crossed the distance that had been between them. "What are you doing on that game system that's more important than working with me?"

"Huh?", Peter questioned before everything registered all at once. He'd not realized how long he'd been sitting there. "Oh. It's not like, important, important I was just playing Animal Crossing... If I catch one more fish I'll have enough Nook Miles to buy bigger pockets."

"Come again.", Tony replied with a quirk of his brow. "As simple as all of those words are, they don't make any sense in that order, kiddo."

Peter looked up at that and smiled. "Yes, it does. Look, I'll show you.", he replied before changing his position so that Tony could look over his shoulder. "It's part of the game...", he began to explain, going over the various things that he'd mentioned while finishing up his tasks. "...and now I can go visit another island that might have cooler stuff on it, like cherries or some sort of crazy flowers or something.", he finished and looked up towards his mentor who looked no less confused than when he'd started.

"This is it. This is what's keeping you from taking advantage of my workshop? Virtual currency, and an annoying raccoon?", Tony inquired with a huff. 

"Tanuki.", Peter responded without missing a beat, though he understood the confusion. 

"What?", Tony returned with a shake of his head. 

Peter looked up at his mentor with a serious look on his face and repeated his reply but with a bit more of an explanation this time. "He's not a raccoon, Mr. Stark. He's a tanuki." 

"That is neither here nor there, kid.", Tony said with a roll of his eyes and then pointed towards the Nintendo with a sigh. "Why don't you pack that up and come help me with getting this concept off the ground. We need a prototype by the end of the week if we're going to stay on track.", he stated and stood there with his hands on his hips for several seconds while he waited for the offending game system to be tucked out of sight.

From there, they worked side by side on the design work and Tony thought that would be the end of it for the day. Except, the moment they had finished dinner and settled onto the couch for their typical Friday night movie, the kid had the Nintendo back in his hands, clicking away. "I thought I asked you to put that up."

"You did but I didn't know you meant for rest of the day.", Peter said with a frown. Usually, the man didn't care if he texted his friends or played games on his phone, he wasn't sure why playing a handheld- video game system was any different. "Besides, it's night time now and I want to try and catch some tarantulas."

"Tarantulas.", Tony flatly replied before his tone took on a hint of amusement. "Of course, you would want to catch a bunch of spiders. I guess that makes sense."

"It's not like that, Mr. Stark.", Peter laughed. "They're worth like, eight-thousand bells and I want to be able to pay off my loan."

"Can't you do that later?", Tony asked but he'd already sort of resigned himself to a movie-less evening. The kid was all kinds of hung up on playing games and what was most annoying about that was that it wasn't even a _good game_. He would have happily engaged with the boy if it had been something a little more... action. Racing, fighting... anything but _that._

"The store closes at ten and I won't be able to sell them.", Peter said, already turned back to his game. Then an idea struck and he grinned at his mentor who had sat down beside him. "Hey! How about we put it up on the TV and then you can watch.", he suggested. Tony waved a hand haphazardly towards the television in response. 

For a while, Tony sat and watched Peter skip around between fishing and trying to catch spiders. Laughing when the boy ended up being bitten by one because being bitten by spiders just seemed to be a thing with the kid. Then, as time passed he started to lose interest and began to doze off in the corner of the couch, only to be woken moments later by the teenager nudging him in the arm. 

When it looked like his mentor was no longer interested in what he was doing on screen, Peter considered turning it off and putting on a movie instead. Then another idea came to mind and he smiled. "Hey, Mr. Stark, do you want to play? We could make you your own character and everything.", he said with fervor, half-expecting the man to decline but when he was met with a grumbled, 'fine', he was elated despite the man's lack of enthusiasm. 

Once Tony had the controller in his hands he was quick to make it through the setup, Peter prompting him the whole time. That worked out for him because with the kid sitting right there giving him sept by step instructions he didn't have to listen to the squeaky little voices speak what sounded like gibberish to him. Then he finally made it to 'Spooder Island', the name giving him a second's pause before rolling his eyes.

"Awesome. Next, you get to pick where you're going to put your tent.", Peter said with a smile just as the man had started reading what amounted to a tutorial. 

Tony hummed in response as he squinted his eyes at the words and then scoffed. "He's going to charge me for a tent? It's a tent. I'm going into debt over a tent.", he stated with what sounded like legitimate annoyance much to Peter's amusement. 

"You can play that off pretty quickly with Nook Miles.", Peter eagerly replied. "You just need to DIY a fishing pole and a bug net. You'll have to find some sticks to make them and then you can use the workbench in my house to make them. Then you can go fishing and stuff to earn miles--"

"--One thing at a time, kid.", Tony interrupted with a chuckle as he continued to skip through the majority of the dialogue. "Where do you want me to put this stupid tent."

Peter smiled and gestured towards the right of the screen. "My house is over by the beach. We could be neighbors.", he animatedly proclaimed as he continued to give the man directions towards a viable spot to set up camp. Soon after that, he was happily explaining how to find sticks, make tools, fish and track down insects. 

After spending a good thirty minutes walking up and down the beaches and rivers patiently waiting to catch fake fish, Tony sighed. "This is the most tedious thing I think I have ever done. How is this fun?", he asked as he rubbed his hand down his chin.

"I dunno. It just is.", Peter replied with a shrug of his shoulders and then absolutely lit up as the man caught another fish. "Ohh! That's a good one, Mr. Stark! It's worth three-thousand bells!", he shouted as he bounced in place. 

"I thought I was trying to get ' _Nook Miles_ '.", Tony asked with a quirk of his brow. 

"Yeah, but you'll want bells too. You'll see.", Peter countered with a smile just as the notification of Nook Rewards popped back up in the corner. "Look! You've got more Nook Miles!"

As the night passed Tony began to get more and more into the game. He'd finally worked out the controls and was getting better at knowing what things needed to be done in order to obtain currency. Then finally, he was able to save up the necessary number of Nook Miles to pay of his tent and cheered as he took off to pay off his loan. "Ah-ha! That's it. Paid off with miles to spare.", he added with a smile that quickly faded once Peter had prompted further interaction that led to another debt. "Now he's going to charge me for a house? Why didn't he just offer to build me a house, to begin with? This is ridiculous.", he grumbled but that didn't seem to stop him from playing. It was quite the opposite really because never once did he ever even off to give the controller back to Peter.

As the hour grew late, Peter started rubbing his eyes and eventually laid down across the couch as his mentor continued to make progress. Then when he was sure he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer he gave in and sat up. "I'm going to bed, Mr. Stark.", he yawned.

"Sure. 'Night, Kiddo.", Tony replied, never taking his eyes off the screen. 

Peter stood at the threshold between the living room and the hallway for several seconds expecting to see the man start to pack up the game but he didn't. Finding that more than intriguing, he tilted his head to the side and asked, "Are you staying up to play?"

It was then that Tony realized that he'd been sucked in and had to pause momentarily to come up with an excuse as to why he'd not automatically turned the stupid game off when Peter had said he was going to bed. "Uh... no. I was just going to finish this up. Then I need to get back down to the lab and go over we started earlier. Make sure it's up to speed", he lied. There was nothing to go over. He just wanted the kid to go to bed so that he could continue the game without feeling like a moron. 

"Okay, well, I'll see you in the morning then.", Peter returned with a knowing smile before turning towards his bedroom door, wondering how long it would be before Tony would be buying his own copy of the game. 

The answer to that question ended up being 'the next day' when it occurred to Tony that Peter would be taking the game back home with him. His plan had been to purchase the game after Peter had left for the day but then the kid had questioned him, at breakfast, about what all he'd done on the island after he'd gone to bed. Once he'd inadvertently replied to that, there was no denying anything. So, with nothing to hide, he'd ended up having his own island set up before his mentee had even left the building. It was fine though, everybody needed a good stress free way to spend their free time and maybe this was his. 

The rest of the weekend was spent redoing everything he'd already done on Peter's island on his own. It went much quicker the second time around but even still, he'd not really counted on exactly how much time he would actually put into it until Monday rolled around. He'd gotten up with the intention of checking his calendar to see if he had anything pressing to do that day but as he was sipping on his coffee, the Nintendo laying on the side table in the living room caught his attention. He figured that spending a few minutes in the game wouldn't hurt and carried his mug into the other room.

Sometime later, when Pepper came into the penthouse with her arms crossed over her chest he startled just slightly. "Tony? What are you doing? You're supposed to be getting ready for a board meeting.", she'd said, gesturing towards where he was lounged across an armchair wearing pajama pants and a tank top, playing the Nintendo.

Glancing up for half a second, Tony nodded his head and pretended like he hadn't completely forgotten about that work existed. "Oh. Yeah, yeah, I know.", he said with mock assurance. "Just give me a second. Filbert wants me to catch a pill bug for him and if I'm lucky I'll find the money rock in the process.", he added in a rush and then dropped his gaze back down to the screen in his lap.

"What are you _talking_ about, Tony?", Pepper asked with a smiled that would have turned into a laugh if she wasn't so pressed for time. The meeting was supposed to be starting in less than half an hour and it didn't look like the man had even considered getting dressed yet, let alone showered.

"Nothing, don't worry about it.", Tony, grumbled towards the screen before looking up with a deep sigh. "Look, I'll see you at the meeting, alright.", he continued but made no effort to get up from where he was comfortably seated with his legs dangling over one side of the large chair. 

Pepper stood there and watched the scene before her for an entire two minutes before rolling her eyes because the man hadn't moved a singular inch in that stretch of time. It was as if he'd already forgotten she was in the room or that he had anywhere to be. It was clear that she would _not_ be seeing Tony at that meeting but she supposed that wasn't anything new. He was often skipping meetings to do one thing or another, though it had never been because of a video game before. She could only assume that had to do with Peter and laughed a little. The two of them were two peas in a pod. Then she shook her head and turned towards the door still smiling. "It's fine Tony. I won't hold my breath."


End file.
